Meanings
plural predicatives · alternative obsolete prædicative
- grammarAn element of the predicate of a sentence which complements the subject or object by means of the verb. Predicatives may be nominal or adjectival.
- grammarIn some languages, a special part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being.
A predicative in Russian is an uninflected word that regularly constitutes a complete utterance when standing alone, i.e., when preceded and followed by silence.
1957, Morton Benson, “The Problem of Predicatives in Russian”, in The Slavic and East European Journal, volume 1, number 4, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, page 2851 more example
Traditional grammars usually differentiate between neuter short adjectives and predicatives based on whether there is an overt nominative subject; hence курение вредно ‘smoking (noun) is harmful’ is viewed as a clause with nominative subject, zero copula and neuter short form adjective that agrees with the subject in gender, whereas курить вредно (same meaning, literally ‘to smoke is harmful’) is often viewed as an impersonal clause with predicative.
2013, Sergey Say, “On the Nature of Dative Arguments in Russian Constructions with “Predicatives””, in I. Kor Chahine, editor, Current Studies in Slavic Linguistics (Studies in Language Companion Series), page 226
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveof adjectives; relating to or occurring within the predicate of a sentence
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Catalan predicatiu
- predicatiuused after a verb
Chinese Mandarin 作表語的 /作表语的, 表語 /表语
- 作表語的 /作表语的 (zuò biǎoyǔ de)used after a verb
- 表語 /表语 (biǎoyǔ)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Danish prædikativ
- prædikativused after a verb
Dutch predicatief
- predicatiefused after a verb
Esperanto predikativa, predikativo
- predikativaused after a verb
- predikativoelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Finnish predikatiivinen, predikatiivi
- predikatiivinenused after a verb
- predikatiivielement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
French attributif, attribut
- attributifused after a verb
- attributelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
German prädikativ, Prädikativum
- prädikativused after a verb
- Prädikativumelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- Prädikativelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Greek κατηγορηματικός, κατηγορούμενο
- κατηγορηματικός (katigorimatikós)used after a verb
- κατηγορούμενο (katigoroúmeno)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Indonesian predikatif
- predikatifelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Italian predicativo
- predicativoused after a verb
Japanese 述詞, 叙述語
- 述詞 (jutsushi)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- 叙述語 (jojutsugo)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Norwegian predikativ
- predikativused after a verb
Polish orzecznikowy, orzecznik
- orzecznikowyused after a verb
- orzecznikelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- predykatywa part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being
Portuguese predicativo, predicativo
- predicativoused after a verb
- predicativoelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Russian предикати́вный, именна́я часть составно́го сказу́емого
- предикати́вный (predikatívnyj)used after a verb
- именна́я часть составно́го сказу́емого (imennája častʹ sostavnóvo skazújemovo)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- предикати́в (predikatív)element of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- предикати́в (predikatív)a part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being
- катего́рия состоя́ния (kategórija sostojánija)a part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being
Scottish Gaelic aisneiseach
- aisneiseachused after a verb
Slovak přísudkový
- přísudkovýelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Spanish predicativo, predicativo
- predicativoused after a verb
- predicativoelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
- complemento predicativoelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Swedish predikativ, predikativ
- predikativused after a verb
- predikativelement of the predicate of a sentence which supplements the subject or object by means of the verb
Turkish yüklemcil
- yüklemcilused after a verb
Ukrainian предикати́в
- предикати́в (predykatýv)a part of speech used as a predicate and denoting a state of being
Welsh traethiadol
- traethiadolused after a verb
Cite this entry
predicative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predicative
“predicative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predicative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “predicative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/predicative.
Source: predicative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.